Visor holding and feeding mechanism for sewing machines



July 15 1924.

w; q'GRuNow ET AL VISOR HOLDING AND FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 26 July 15 1924. 150L710 W. C. GRUNOW ET AL.

VISOR HOLDING AND FEEDING MECHANISM FOR sEwim MACHINES Filed July 26. 192 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 15, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM C. GRUNOW AND AUGUST J. WIEGAND, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS TO GRIGSBY-GRUNOW-HINDS CO., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

VISOR HOLDING AND FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES.

Application filed July 26, 1922.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, TVILLIAM C. GRUNow and AUGUST J. TVIEGAND, citizens of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Visor Holding and Feeding Mechanism for Sewing Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to visor holding and feeding mechanism for sewing machines, be ing directed more particularly to a mechanism for gripping and stretching bag-like Visor covers over the frames thereof while being sewed so that the cover will be secured taut over the visor frame.

In a type of visor for automobiles wherein a bag-like cover is secured over a supporting frame therein, great difficulty has heretofore been encountered in stretching and holding the cover over the frame while being sewed so as to secure the cover sufficiently taut to present a workmanlike job. Also heretofore the parts have been stretched and held almost directly by the hand of the operator by a hand tool such as a pair of pliers and not only has this been very difficult to manipulate but also 1t has been exceedingly injurious to the hands of the operators. Furthermore, it required an operator with considerable strength and heretofore it was found impossible to have the work done by women, or by any but skilled labor.

7 lVith our improved method not only can the work be done by unskilled labor, but also by women, and the cover can be secured more taut and with a greatly increased output, thereby lessening the cost.

Fora better understanding of our invention reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a plan View of the table and operating mechanism thereon as it is sup ported beneath the sewing machine head;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a sewing ma chine head with part of the operating mechanism as it is mounted on the machine table,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Serial No. 577,603.

Fig. 4 is a sectional View along the line 4% of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the machine head; and

Fig. 6 is a front view partly in section through the presser foot and needle guard.

Referring now more in detail to our invention, we provide a suitable base or sewing machine table A having front and rear extensions for suitably supporting the visor B during the sewing operation. The sewing machine head C may be of a suitable type, the one illustrated having a suitable presser foot 10, feed foot 11, needle bar 12 and needle 13, operated in the usual way.

N ow as to the mechanism for controlling the visor B during the sewing operation, we provide a suitable gripping and stretching device preferably in the form of a pliers D adapted to mechanically grip the visor cover so that it may be pulled taut on the frame. Also, the pliers are mounted so that they may retain a pulling hold upon the visor and move along therewith during the sewing operation, and to this end the pliers are movably mounted preferably by a pivot connection 14 to an operating member 15 preferably in the form of a lever pivotally secured to the table at 16. The lever is also so connected to the pliers that the operation of the lever causes an automatic gripping of the pliers, this being brought about through the toggle connection 17 as shown more clearly in Fig. 2. That is, when the lever 15 is pulled toward the right the connection 17 is such that with a holding strain on the pliers D they will automatically close andgrip the visor cover and hold the grip so long as there is a strain upon the lever. Also, the lever is preferably so mounted and proportioned that the pull upon the pliers is increased over the pull upon the handle thus making it easier for the operator and also permittingof a greater pull upon the visor cover so that it will be secured more taut than wit-h a weaker pull.

A spring 18 is also connected so as to auto matically pull the pliers D and thus the visor as it is being fed backwardly from the dotted position of the pliers indicated in Fig. 1 to the full line position. That is, as'the visor moves backwardly during the sewing operation the desired distance, by re leasing the hold or strain upon the lever 15 the pliers automatically disengage from the visor cover and are pulled forwardly by the operator into their starting posit-ion as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1. At this time, the operator simply presses down on the upper handle of the pliers with. one hand and with the other hand pulls the lever 15 toward the right thereby automatically gripping and holding the visor cover as it is fed in being sewed.

To support the lever 15 we provide a rest 19 on which it may slide back and forth.

As previously stated, the type of visor to which our invention is more particularly directed has a bag-like cover 20 made up of upper and lower sheets of a suitable material, preferably fabrikoid, sewed together along its outer edges with the finished sides facing each other after which it is turned thereby placing the seam on the inside. A frame 21 preferably of a suitable metallic construction is then forced into the cover while said cover is stretched, as shown in a eo-pending application Serial No. 577,781; filed of even filing date hereof. This leaves an open side 22 of the visor which must be secured and preferably with the visor cover taut on the frame. This securing of the open end of the visor is preferably done by sewing it close to the frame 21 as indicated by the stitches 23.

Now in order to stretch the. cover over the frame during the sewing operation, we provide suitable stops in the form of a stud 24 extending upwardly from the table A so as to properly align the visor with the other stops and sewing needle. A second stop 25 is adapted to be inserted between the open flaps of the cover to engage the frame 21 so as to properly align the visor with the needle and at the same time hold it to permit pulling to stretch the cover during the sewing operation. This stop 25 is pivotally mounted at 26 and held by a removable pin 27. That is, the pin 2? is pulled out so as to permit swinging the stop out of the way of the end of the flap as indicated by the dotted lines as this end is run through under the needle. A back stop 28 is also provided to steady the visor, this stop passing over the top of the flaps as shown in Figs. 1 and i, being cut away underneath as indicated in Fig. 4. to clear to flap 22 and abut the outside of the sewed visor. That is, the flap 22 passes along beneath the stop 28 as shown in Fig. 4.

Operation.

In the operation, the gripping mechanism is swung around to the right so as to be clear of the visor and the stop 25 is inserted between the flaps of the cover to engage the frame 21, as indicated in the broken away portion. The rear end of the visor is then inserted beneath the presser foot and the left edge of the visor held against the outer stop 24:. The operator now grasps the lever 15 with the right hand and the upper lever of the pliers D with the left hand and moves the gripping mechanism toward the left until the pliers can grip the flaps. The upper handle of the pliers is then pressed down so that the flaps are gripped and lever 15 pulled toward the right, causing the toggle joint 17 to effect a more forcible gripping of the visor cover. The operator then continues the pressure of lever 15 toward the right thereby stretching the cover and holding. it taut and drops the presser foot after which the sewing operation is started. It is to be noted that as soon as the lever 15 is pressed toward the right so as to effect a gripping and stretching operation of the visor cover, the operator may release the holdupon the pliers D with the left hand which is free to control the visor and sewing machine.

The machine being now operating, the visor is drawn toward the back by the feeding operation of the machine, the gripping device holding the cover stretched and taut so that it is sewed to the frame in this condition.

As previously noted the gripping device D is so mounted that it will travel with the visor during the sewing operation, moving from its dotted line position as shown in Fig. 1 to its limit of movement. 01 course, all this time the operator maintains the pulling strain upon the lever 15. As soon as the sewing operation carries the gripping device D to its back limit of movement (the machine continuing), pressure upon lever 15 is relieved thereby releasing the pliers D from the visor at which time the operator graps the pliers with the left hand and pulls them forward to the dotted line position, or forward limit of movement, where the same operation is gone through again, that is the pliers operated to grip the flaps, the lever 1-5 pulled toward the right and the sewing machine started again. This cycle of operation is gone through until the front end of the visor almost reaches the stop 25 at which time this stop is swung clear of the visor as indicated by its dotted line position. The sewing is then continued through to the end- It will be noted that shortly after the beginning of the sewing operation the rear stop 28 engages the visor and assists in holding it during the remainder of the sewing operation.

During the sewing operation (except while stop 25 is being moved backwardly out of the way) the machine continues running, the operators being able to shift the pliers very quickly without stopping the machine. This causes a slight wave in the seam 23 as indicated but this does not permit the cover to slack or loosen as it is held by the straight portions of the seam.

It will thus be seen that we have provided a method of holding, stretching and feeding the visors during the sewing operation thereof, and one which we find may be readily practiced by the operators who readily become very skillful and in which there is not only a considerable saving of time and labor over the method heretofore practiced, thus increasing the production with the same help, and reducing the cost of production, at the same time turning out a superior article.

lVhat we claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In a mechanism for sewing machines for holding and feeding flat open bag-like visor covers with frames therein including a lever controlled device for gripping and pulling the open side of the visor cover taut over the frame, said device being manually operable and yieldingly mounted so as to move with the visor as it is fed along while being sewed.

2. In a mechanism for sewing machines for holding and feeding flat open bag-like visor covers with frames therein including a lever controlled pliers for gripping and pulling the open side of the visor cover taut over the frame pivotally mounted so as to move with the visor as it is fed along while being sewed.

3. In a mechanism for sewing machines for holding and feeding flat open bag-like visor covers with frames therein including a device for gripping and pulling the open side of the visor cover taut over the frame, and means for mounting said device so as to move with the visor as it is fed along while being sewed.

4.. In a mechanism for sewing machines for holding and feeding fiat open bag-like visor covers with frames therein including a device for gripping and pulling the open side of the visor cover taut over the frame,

means for mounting said device so as to move with the visor as it is fed along while being sewed, and mechanical means for operating the gripping device to pull the cover taut.

5. In a mechanism for sewing machines for holding and feeding flat open bag-like visor covers with frames therein including a device for gripping and pulling the open side of the visor cover taut over the frame, means for mounting said device so as to move with the visor as it is fed along while being sewed, and a manually operated lever for actuating the gripping device to pull the cover taut.

6. In a mechanism for sewing machines for holding and feeding bag-like visor covers with frames therein including, a device for gripping and pulling the visor cover taut over the frame, and a manually operated lever pivotally supporting the device so that the actuation of the lever will automatically cause the device to grip the visor whereby it is pulled taut by further actuation of the lever and whereby said device moves with the visor as it is fed along while being sewed.

7. In a mechanism of the character described for stretching bag-like visor covers over frames while securing the same, a base on which the visor is supported, a plurality of stop-arms on the base extending into engagement with the visor, and means for gripping the cover to pull it toward the stoparms so as to stretch the cover taut whereby it may be thus secured to the frame.

8. In a mechanism of the character described for stretching open bag-like visor covers over rectangular frames while sewing the same, a base on which the visor is supported, and mechanical means for stretching the cover taut over the frame and movable therewith while the cover is being sewed.

In witness whereof, we hereunto subscribe our names this 23rd day of May, A. D., 1922.

WVILLIAM C. GRUNOW. AUGUST J. l/VIEGAND. 

